hi runnerbean!i m happy that my posts are found useful by you i want to share what kind of things you do in your classrooms?have you got a whole year plan?i ll be glad if you share your ideas!sometimes i feel i m in trouble with all that kids

I'm now on my 3rd year teaching 4-6 year olds. I struggled a lot in the first 2 years but it's gotten easier and much more fun. So hang in there. Keep getting ideas from websites-there is so much info out there.

Do you use a book and have help with the curriculum? If you are on your own creating your own curriculum and coming up with your own materials and ideas (like I was last year!) then it's a lot of work. If you need some help with that, feel free to PM me. I'm in Istanbul too!

i m in trouble with curriculum now.i m making inconsistent weekly plans nowadays and kids can t show any progress as far as i observe.what kind of things you do in class?i have got a book Cookie and Friends from Oxford Publishing.but i use book for just mondays.the other days i don t know what to do.i need a consistent plan.by the way in which school do you work in istanbul.

Hi both of you.
I am also new to teaching little ones and find it challenging. I have no particular curriculum to follow and have been given all but no materials. I did alot of searching on the Internet for suitable materials that are not too costly. I am fairly happy with what I use.

I use the preschool stories bought from http://teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm which work fairly well. What I particulary like about this is that vocabulary and phrases are repeated very often. I think I would be tempted to do far too much with the children if I didn't use this. The children really do seem to be learning well from this.

I use some of the songs from supersimplesongs.com. The children love "hello hello" and "Bye bye Goodbye" from CD3 I think. The colours songs....I see something blue/pink have gone down a treat, too.

Try to get your hands on existing curriculums and teacher's books to help you out. Borrow ideas and your own plan should come together based on what you want to achieve. I spent many hours on this in the beginning of the year, but then it was worth it.
What I learned so far...Keep it simple. Have your theme for the month (or three week period) like food, animals, toys, clothing, body parts, family, etc. Keep vocabulary limited, say less than 10 words per theme. I would limit songs to say 3 a month, and practice again and again. These kids just don't get tired of the same old thing, if it's fun and lively. Make a routine with a hello song/goodbye song for every class. Numbers 1-10/colors and simple actions can be included in every lesson.
Hope this helps. Good Luck!

You can also try to MES curriculum for ideas to help you get your lesson plans together. There are all kinds of printables, games, and activities that you can use to support these on that site as well.
www.mes-english.com/curriculum/